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Scandal-Hit Nissan Sales Halved

Nissan’s passenger car sales plummeted more than 55% in Japan last month, data showed Wednesday, after the company suspended all domestic production due to an inspection scandal, AFP reported. In October, sales of Nissan-brand passenger cars stood at 10,134 vehicles, down 55.2 percentage points from a year earlier, Japan Automobile Dealers Association said. The drop comes after Nissan admitted it had failed to meet domestic rules on final vehicle inspections and recalled around 1.2 million vehicles produced and sold in Japan for re-inspection. Last month, Japan’s number-two automaker said it was suspending all production destined for the Japanese market. The dramatic fall in Nissan-brand cars compares with a more modest decline of just 4.4 percentage points in overall sales in the Japanese market in the month. Nissan’s cargo vehicles sales dropped 41.2% to 2,582 vehicles, against a 5.8% decline in the broader cargo vehicles market. Nissan produced 1.015 million vehicles in Japan in its last fiscal year to March, with about 400,000 units sold locally.